Austerity’s Cost
Argentina’s economic crisis has reached an alarming point, with poverty rates expected to surpass 50 per cent.
Angel Di Maria has said he plans to continue playing with Argentina’s national team, at least until the two-time world champions win a major title.
The Albiceleste’s last senior tournament victory came at the 1993 Copa America and Di Maria said he and his teammates were focusing on doing “everything possible” to end the drought at the Copa America in Brazil, starting on June 14, reports Xinhua news agency.
“I want to win something with this shirt. I won with (Argentina’s) U-20s, the Olympic team and it’s something unique,” the 31-year-old Paris Saint-Germain forward said in an interview on Argentina radio on Tuesday.
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“But every day I dream of achieving something with the senior national team because it would be much more important. That’s why I’m going to keep trying.
“I’ll be here (for Argentina) until the day I can achieve something. When I’m not called up anymore the door will close but I’ll never close it.”
Argentina will begin their Copa America campaign against Colombia on June 15 before facing Paraguay and Qatar in Group B.
Di Maria said he already detects a different mindset among his teammates now compared to the World Cup in Russia last year, when the side was bundled out in the last 16 by eventual champions France.
“There are several things that cannot be repeated from Russia,” Di Maria said. “The main thing is what is being done now. There’s a good atmosphere in the group and there are no (internal) problems. That’s fundamental.
“In the World Cup it was difficult from the first day. We just managed to qualify, thanks to Leo Messi (who scored a hat-trick in the last qualifier against Ecuador). Thing didn’t go well and against France we knew that something wasn’t right. It ended the way it had to end.”
Argentina lost penalty shootouts to Chile in each of the past two Copa America finals, in 2015 and 2016. Di Maria played in both tournaments and was also a part of the Argentina team that finished second at the 2014 World Cup in Brazil.
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